Taking Payment

You've got a venue, music, food and booze, now you just need figure out how to accept money!

Credit Card readers

These days you can accept credit card payments at your event, right from your smartphone. You'll need a small and inexpensive accessory that you can buy or rent. The most popular one is from a company called Square. In exchange, you pay a small percentage fee on all transactions. More info: Square Point of Sale.

Cash

Regardless of what other methods of payment you accept, you'll still need to accept cash, and that means a cash box, and float.

Get a cash box - you can find them at office supply stores, or second hand on Kijiji or Facebook marketplace. If you ask around you may find someone you know will be willing to lend you one for the night.

What is float? It's the small denominations you begin your event with so that you can make change. However much you start with, make sure you record your float so you can deduct it from your total at the end of the night. What denominations of float you need depends on the prices of tickets at your event. Keeping to round numbers in your prices can simplify your cash situation.

Make sure you staff the ticket table with your most responsible helpers. Always have two people at the ticket desk.

It's good to have a consistent process when doing transactions. First take the money from the customer and put it in a visible location. Count out the tickets for the purchase, and give the customer the correct change. Then you take the money and put it away. This makes it easier if the customer changes their mind part-way through, or if there is confusion about how much they handed you.

Have a plan to periodically move the large bills to a safer location (like a safe, if there is one at the venue). And never count money in view of the public!